- "Expanded Recommendations for Use of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines Among Adults Aged ≥50 Years: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—United States, 2024" published in MMWR
- HHS launches “Let’s Get Real” campaign to highlight facts about childhood vaccines and share stories from confident parents who vaccinate their kids
- FDA adds Guillain–Barré Syndrome warning to the prescribing information for RSV vaccines Abrysvo and Arexvy
- Prepare for ice, fire, and other disasters. Practice your vaccine storage emergency plan now.
- January is Cervical Health Awareness Month; HPV vaccination prevents cancer
- Now shipping! Order laminated 2025 U.S. immunization schedule booklets from Immunize.org.
- Immunize.org updates "Checklist of Current Versions of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance and Clinic Support Tools"
- Seasonal influenza epidemic in full swing: Activity is moderate to very high in most jurisdictions; don’t delay, vaccinate.
- “Can Any of the Three Licensed RSV Vaccines Be Used During Pregnancy?” Watch the 1-minute answer, part of the Ask the Experts Video Series on YouTube.
- Journalists interview Immunize.org experts
- Vaccines in the news
- “Sustainability of Measles, Rubella, and Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) Elimination in the United States, January 2022–June 2024” published in Vaccine
- "A Bundled, Practice-Based Intervention to Increase HPV Vaccination" published in Pediatrics
- "Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against Medically Attended Outpatient Illness, United States, 2023–24 Season" published in Clinical Infectious Diseases
- Virtual: New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics hosts webinar titled “Vaccines, Autism, and Neurodiversity” on January 22 at 12:00 p.m. (ET); CME credit available
- Virtual: North Dakota State University hosts webinar titled “HPV Infection: Immunizing for Cancer Prevention” on January 29 at 1:00 p.m. (ET); CE credit available
- Questions about our website? Register for the next Immunize.org Website Office Hours February 12 at 4:00 p.m. (ET) or February 13 at 12:00 p.m. (ET). Previously recorded sessions available online.
CDC published Expanded Recommendations for Use of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines Among Adults Aged ≥50 Years: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—United States, 2024 on January 9 in MMWR. Immunize.org’s clinical resources, including the pneumococcal vaccine standing orders template, already reflect this recommendation. A portion of the summary appears below.
Before October 2024, a single dose of 15-valent, 20-valent, or 21-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), was recommended for adults aged 19–64 years with risk conditions for pneumococcal disease and for all adults aged ≥65 years. . . .
On October 23, 2024, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended a single dose of PCV for all adults aged ≥50 years who are PCV-naïve or who have unknown vaccination history. The risk-based recommendation for adults aged 19–49 years is unchanged. . . .
The updated, expanded age-based recommendation is expected to improve pneumococcal disease prevention in adults aged 50–64 years, particularly among demographic groups experiencing higher disease rates.
Access the MMWR article in HTML or PDF.
Related Link
- CDC: MMWR main page providing access to the MMWR family of publications
In late December, HHS launched the Let’s Get Real campaign to cut through the noise of misinformation and give parents the balanced information they need about childhood vaccines. The campaign provides verifiable facts and shares stories from doctors and peers on why most of us rely on vaccines to protect our children.
Let’s Get Real also offers tools for healthcare professionals who see pediatric patients, including the Act, Recommend, Motivate (ARM) approach. This provider-tested approach guides more effective vaccine conversations with parents. The three steps of the ARM approach build on each other to help parents feel more empowered and confident about their decisions for their child’s health.
View these resources and shareable materials.
On January 7, FDA published an FDA Safety Communication, noting revisions to package inserts describing data that suggest a small increased risk of Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) during the 42 days after vaccination with either Abrysvo (Pfizer) or Arexvy (GSK). FDA noted that the benefits of vaccination as currently recommended continue to outweigh the risks.
A portion of the safety summary appears below.
The analyses of all GBS cases based on claims data suggest an increased risk of GBS during the 42 days following vaccination, with an estimated 9 excess cases of GBS per million doses of Abrysvo, and an estimated 7 excess cases of GBS per million doses of Arexvy administered to individuals 65 years of age and older. Background risks of GBS in study populations influence excess GBS case estimates and may differ between studies and analyses within a study, precluding direct comparisons of excess GBS case estimates from other vaccine studies or populations.
While the results from the self-controlled case series analyses of this observational study suggest increased risks of GBS with Abrysvo and Arexvy, available evidence is insufficient to establish a causal relationship. . . .
FDA has further determined that the benefits of vaccination with Abrysvo and Arexvy continue to outweigh their risks.
Continuous monitoring and assessment of the safety of all vaccines remain an FDA priority and we are committed to informing the public when we learn new information about these vaccines.
Suspected adverse events may be reported to VAERS, which is comanaged by FDA and CDC.
Related Links
Power outages create emergency conditions that can damage your valuable vaccine inventory. For this reason, every site that stocks vaccines needs an emergency plan. Every Vaccines for Children (VFC) site is required to have one.
If you don’t already have one, follow CDC’s Vaccine Storage and Handling Toolkit to create an emergency plan. Plans only work when staff are trained. This month is a good time to refresh everyone’s training. Build redundancy, flexibility, and communication into your plan. Consider:
- Equipment backup options
- Alternate storage options
- Vaccine transport plans
- Circumstances where the physical risk to staff must be prioritized over vaccines
Your plan should specify at least one facility where current staff are willing to receive and properly store your vaccine inventory if it must be relocated. CDC’s guide provides detailed instructions on monitoring temperatures during a power outage and what to do once proper storage conditions are restored.
Have a printed copy of your plan available on or near your storage unit before your printer loses power!
Prevent avoidable vaccine waste by training your staff on emergency procedures, including after-hours roles and responsibilities. Then run an exercise to check understanding.
Related Links
- CDC: Vaccine Storage and Handling Toolkit (31 pages, March 2024)
- CDC: Packing Vaccines for Transport During Emergencies (Aug 2015)
- Immunize.org: Clinic Tools: Storage and Handling main page
- Immunize.org: Vaccine Storage Emergency Response Worksheet (PDF)
- HHS: Technical Resources: Utility Failures web page
January is Cervical Health Awareness Month, a great time to share the importance of HPV vaccination. Almost all cervical cancer is linked to infection with high-risk HPV strains, a very common virus transmitted through intimate contact.
CDC recommends HPV vaccination for everyone 26 years old or younger, beginning as early as age 9. Adults age 27 through 45 years who are not already vaccinated may decide to get the HPV vaccine after speaking with their clinician.
Protect your patients from cervical cancer, and the many other HPV-related cancers affecting men and women, by recommending, promoting, and offering the HPV vaccine.
Related Links
- CDC: Cervical Cancer Awareness web page
- CDC: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Information for Clinicians main page
- National Cervical Cancer Coalition: Cervical Health Awareness Month web page
- Immunize.org: Vaccines A–Z: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) main page
- Immunize.org: Ask the Experts: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) web page
Laminated booklets of the 2025 U.S. child and adolescent immunization schedule and the 2025 U.S. adult immunization schedule are available to order now in the Immunize.org shop. The laminated booklets are shipping now.
The schedules are available online as PDFs from CDC at no cost. Immunize.org’s laminated booklets are ideal for use in any busy healthcare setting where vaccines are given. Features include:
- Durability: Their tough coating can be wiped down, and they can stand up to a year's worth of use.
- Format: Each schedule is produced in an 8.5” X 11” booklet format; with color coding for easy reading, our laminated schedules replicate the original CDC formatting, including all tables and notes. The adult schedule is 16 pages and the child and adolescent schedule is 20 pages.
- Easy access to CDC updates: The CDC online schedule includes an addendum page that will display ACIP’s new recommendations as CDC adopts them during 2025. Each Immunize.org laminated schedule addendum page includes QR codes you can scan to view or print the online addendum page as it is revised.
- Bonus content: Both schedules include a bonus page with Immunize.org’s popular 1-page handout summarizing the dose, route, and needle size recommendations for all vaccines and recipients.
Pricing:
| Child and Adolescent Booklets | Adult Booklets | |
| 1 copy: $10.50 | 1 copy: $10.00 | |
| 2–4 copies: $10.00 each | 2–4 copies: $9.50 each | |
| 5–19 copies: $9.00 each | 5–19 copies: $8.50 each | |
| 20–99 copies: $8.00 each | 20–99 copies: $7.50 each | |
| 100–499 copies: $6.50 each | 100–499 copies: $6.00 each | |
| 500–999 copies: $5.50 each | 500–999 copies: $5.00 each | |
| 1,000–1,999 copies: $4.50 each | 1,000–1,999 copies: $4.00 each | |
| 2,000+ copies: $3.75 each | 2,000+ copies: $3.25 each |
Visit the Shop Immunize.org: Laminated Schedules web page to view images and order today!
For additional information, call 651-647-9009 or email admininfo@immunize.org.
Related Links
- Immunize.org: Laminated Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedules (0–18 years) web page
- Immunize.org: Laminated Adult Immunization Schedules (19 and older) web page
- Immunize.org: Shop Immunize.org main page
Immunize.org published the January 11 version of its Checklist of Current Versions of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance and Clinic Support Tools to indicate recent updates for:
- ACIP recommendations for COVID-19 vaccine (published in MMWR on December 12, 2024)
- Immunize.org’s Screening Checklist for Contraindications to Vaccines for Children and Teens and Screening Checklist for Contraindications to Vaccines for Adults (English version and 17 translations updated on December 10, 2024)
The checklist, updated at least monthly since March 2022, will now be updated only when significant new COVID-19 vaccine resources (e.g., new package inserts, fact sheets, or standing orders) are released. The date of the current version of the checklist will continue to be noted at the top of the first page and within the footer.
Related Links
- CDC: U.S. COVID-19 Vaccine Product Information main page
- CDC: Interim Clinical Considerations main page for use of COVID-19 vaccines
- Immunize.org: Vaccines A–Z: COVID-19 main page
At the end of 2024, the annual seasonal influenza epidemic surged dramatically. For week 1, ending January 13, CDC’s Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, FluView, showed influenza-like illness activity at high to very high levels in most jurisdictions. This week, 6.1% of outpatient visits were for influenza-like illness, well above the epidemic threshold of 3.0% for the sixth consecutive week. Despite the high rates of influenza, vaccination rates continue to be lower than last season.
RESP-NET
Visit the CDC Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RESP-NET) for weekly reports of hospitalizations due to three vaccine-preventable seasonal respiratory viruses: COVID-19, influenza, and RSV.
Influenza Vaccination Dashboard
CDC's Weekly Flu Vaccination Dashboard shows that, as of December 14, an estimated 34.3 million doses of flu vaccine were given in community pharmacies (~670,000 fewer than this same time point last flu season) and 19.2 million doses were given in physicians’ medical offices (~3.3 million fewer doses than this same time point last flu season).
CDC recommends everyone age 6 months and older get annual influenza vaccination. Influenza and other vaccines (e.g., COVID-19 vaccine, RSV vaccine) may be given at the same visit, if needed. Infants age 6 months and older may receive influenza and COVID-19 vaccines at the same visit when they receive nirsevimab (Beyfortus, Sanofi).
Identify pharmacies in your area that may offer influenza and COVID-19 vaccines by entering a zip code in the VaccineFinder on Vaccines.gov or Vacunas.gov.
Related Links
- CDC: Weekly National Flu Vaccination Dashboard main page
- CDC: FluView main page
- CDC: RESP-NET main page
- Immunize.org: free clinical resources and patient handouts related to influenza
- Immunize.org: Vaccines A–Z: Influenza main page
This week, our featured episode from the Ask the Experts Video Series is Can Any of the Three Licensed RSV Vaccines Be Used During Pregnancy? Dr. Moore explains that the only RSV vaccine licensed and recommended for use during pregnancy is Abrysvo (Pfizer).
The 1-minute video is available on our YouTube channel, along with our full collection of quick video answers to popular Ask the Experts questions.
Like, follow, and share Immunize.org’s social media accounts and encourage colleagues and others interested in vaccination to do likewise.
- Facebook at ImmunizeOrg
- Instagram at ImmunizeOrg
- LinkedIn at ImmunizeOrg
- YouTube at ImmunizeOrg
Journalists seek out Immunize.org experts to help explain vaccines to the public and policy makers. We help the media understand and communicate the complex work vaccinators do. Here is a recent citation.
- Medical Assisting Today: Worth a Shot: New Preventive Options Available for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (January–February 2025)
These recent articles convey the potential risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the importance of vaccination.
- U.S. News: Let's Address Tomorrow's Antivax Arguments Today: Pediatrics Expert (1/8/25)
- NPR: Winter Illnesses Return with a Vengeance (1/8/25)
- CDC: First H5 Bird Flu Death Reported in United States (1/6/25)
Immunize.org offers a variety of video content for staff enrichment, presentations, and sharing on social media or your website. You will find these under the Clinical Resources tab on the menu bar at the top of every page. Simply select “Webinars & Videos” from the bottom of the left menu. From the “Webinars & Videos” home page, you can choose either the webinars or videos tab.
You can filter results on either tab by “Vaccine or Disease Name” and by “Subject.”
Webinars (longer form videos) cover a variety of subjects such as vaccine safety, improving the vaccination experience, implementing vaccine programs, and communicating the benefits of immunization. Recordings of our new Website Office Hours sessions are also provided.
On the Videos tab you will find more than 80 short (typically 5 minutes or less) videos in four topic areas.
- Orientation Video Series: These introduce you to our organization and guide viewers through the most popular sections of our website. Videos show how the website looks on a desktop computer or on a smartphone.
- Ask the Experts Video Series: Video versions of popular Ask the Experts questions and answers. They are also accessible through the “Ask the Experts” web section.
- Improving the Vaccination Experience Video Series: Our brief science-based lessons cover ways to reduce pain and anxiety during vaccination visits.
- Partner videos: Vaccine information from trusted organizations, such as the Vaccine Education Center of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and CDC.
Immunize.org posted 17 updated translations of its popular screening checklists for vaccine contraindications, one for children and adolescents and another for adults. Each 1-page handout lists screening questions on the front and explanatory notes on the back.
The translations reflect changes made to the English version dated December 10, 2024. URLs were updated to correct broken links to CDC’s website and both resources now reflect that any available HepB vaccine may be used during pregnancy.
Updated translations include:
In the January 1 issue, Vaccine published Sustainability of Measles, Rubella, and Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) Elimination in the United States, January 2022–June 2024, coauthored by Immunize.org consultant, Jane R. Zucker, MD, MPH. The Conclusion section appears below.
The US has sustained elimination of measles, rubella, and CRS from 2000 through June 2024. This is an important achievement that is also inherently fragile as it is heavily dependent on what is happening elsewhere in the world as well as in the US. Sustaining elimination will require continued vigilance, effort, and participation in global as well as domestic efforts to rid the world of these diseases permanently.
In the January 6 issue, Pediatrics published A Bundled, Practice-Based Intervention to Increase HPV Vaccination, coauthored by Immunize.org's director for research, Sharon G. Humiston, MD, MPH. A portion of the Results section appears below.
The bundled intervention involved 3 components: online clinician training on HPV vaccine communication, performance feedback on missed HPV vaccination opportunities, and clinician prompts for HPV vaccination. . . . For well-child care (WCC) visits, missed HPV vaccination opportunities were improved during vs before the intervention by 4.8 percentage points . . . for initial HPV vaccine doses and a modest 2.2 percentage points . . . for subsequent doses. . . . Missed vaccination opportunity rates for initial HPV vaccination at WCC visits were similar for the 24 intervention practices vs the 48 comparison practices for a 4.5-year period before the intervention, but they improved for intervention practices and worsened for comparison practices during the intervention period.
In the January 6 issue, Clinical Infectious Diseases published Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against Medically Attended Outpatient Illness, United States, 2023–24 Season. A portion of the Conclusions section appears below.
Vaccination reduced outpatient medically attended influenza overall by 41% and provided protection overall against circulating influenza A and B viruses. Serologic studies would help inform differences observed by age groups.
The New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics will present a 1-hour webinar titled Vaccines, Autism, and Neurodiversity at 12:00 p.m. (ET) on January 22. The webinar will feature Texas Children's Hospital's Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, and Autism Society of America's Danielle Hall, MSW.
This live internet activity is designated for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits.
Register for the webinar.
North Dakota State University's Center for Immunization Research and Education (CIRE) will host a webinar titled HPV Infection: Immunizing for Cancer Prevention, 1:00–2:00 p.m. (ET) on January 29. In recognition of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, CIRE Medical Director Tracie Newman, MD, MPH, will examine HPV epidemiology and pathology, describe HPV vaccine data and recommendations, and evaluate HPV vaccine communication strategies.
Free pediatric maintenance of certification (MOC) credit is available for this activity.
Register for the webinar.
CIRE offers free access to recordings of its monthly webinars on its website. Participants who watch the full recording and complete the pre- and post-training quizzes may earn free CE credit for each webinar.
Learn more about CE opportunities.
To learn simple tips and tricks for using our website efficiently, please register for our next set of Website Office Hours on Wednesday, February 12 at 4:00 p.m. (ET) or Thursday, February 13 at 12:00 p.m. (ET). The same content will be covered in both sessions.
We will open each 45-minute session with a short, live demonstration on navigating the Official Guidance (part 2: state resources) website section and address questions submitted in advance. You can submit questions when you register or live on Zoom during the session.
Register today for Immunize.org Website Office Hours (content is the same for both):
Mark your calendar for future Immunize.org Website Office Hours.